Erwin Pfrang

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Erwin Pfrang

Erwin Pfrang (born October 23, 1951 in Munich ) is a German painter and draftsman.

life and work

Pfrang studied from 1974 to 1979 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich . He then spent many years as a freelance artist in Montepulciano, Val d'Orcia and Catania in Italy, interrupted by stays in Munich and Augsburg. He currently lives and works in Berlin. Erwin Pfrang is the grandson of the Munich folk singer Konstantin Pfrang , known as Stanzl.

Carla Schulz-Hoffmann tries to classify the artist: “The withdrawal into an alternative context, into the small world of a subjective microcosm, is lived by artists like Erwin Pfrang with all the consequences, all restrictions and inconveniences. A comparable attitude may still be encountered in the 20th century with Jean Fautrier , but especially with Wols , about whom his friend Henri-Pierre Roché wrote a concise characterization that could equally apply to Erwin Pfrang: 'Like the snail its house, so Wols sinters his drawings - naturally and with pain. '"

Erwin Pfrang is represented by Galerie Fred Jahn (Munich) and David Nolan Gallery (New York).

Literature and painting

His lifelong passion for literature was reflected in particular in the intensive examination of the work of the Irish writer James Joyce . So he created cycles of drawings on Dubliner and Ulysses . The New York Times described the exhibition of his drawings for the Circe episode of Ulysses in the David Nolan Gallery as a “brilliant solo debut”. Further graphic works are dedicated to the story Tubutsch by the expressionist Albert Ehrenstein and the opera The Intelligence Park by Gerald Barry (libretto Vincent Deane).

La bambolaia - The doll maker

Objectivity

Regarding the meaning of objectivity in his works, Pfrang says: “Object-free painting presupposes that we already know what reality is. If, on the other hand, reality is not a foregone conclusion for us, questionable because it is the result of our questionable senses, we are called upon to first establish reality ( Günter Eich ), to listen to the world and its objects for their presumed nature; and in the case of the painter, knocking it off with the white cane of the brush. "

Pictures in public collections

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1984 drawings, Fred Jahn Munich
  • 1991 Circe Drawings, David Nolan, New York
  • 1995 Dubliners and Related Works, David Nolan, New York
  • 1998 Odysseus and No End, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich
  • 1999 Pictures, State Gallery of Modern Art, Munich
  • 2000 Paintings and Drawings, The Norwood Gallery, Austin, Texas
  • 2004 Circe Drawings, Bank of Ireland Arts Center, Dublin
  • 2004 Pictures, drawings and graphics, Völcker & Friends Gallery, Berlin
  • 2006 Paintings, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles
  • 2007 Hades, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
  • 2007 Mostra di Erwin Pfrang, Università di Catania
  • 2012 New pictures, Fred Jahn, Munich
  • 2015 New pictures, Matthias Jahn, Munich
  • 2016 Gallery Axel Pairon, Knokke
  • 2019 Buchheim Museum, Bernried

Literature (selection)

  • Erwin Pfrang: Drawings. Exhibition catalog: Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, 1984, text: Dieter Kuhrmann, Erwin Pfrang
  • Wolfgang Holler: The Art of Drawing: The Prince Franz Collection of Bavaria , Exhibition Catalog: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, 1988, pp. 147–149.
  • Roberta Smith : Review by Alberto Giacometti: Prints & Erwin Pfrang, Frank Günzel, Rudi Tröger: Drawings, David Nolan Gallery, New York, The New York Times, January 6, 1989.
  • Künstler '89 in Palais Preysing , exhibition catalog: Bayerische Vereinsbank, Munich, 1989, pp. 77–83, 95, text: Carla Schulz-Hoffmann.
  • Erwin Pfrang: Circe Drawings Based on James Joyce's “Ulysses” , exhibition catalog: David Nolan Gallery, New York, 1991, text: Erwin Pfrang.
  • Michael Kimmelmann: Review of Circe Drawings, David Nolan Gallery, The New York Times , September 13, 1991.
  • Alan Jones: Review of Circe Drawings, David Nolan Gallery, New York, Carte Blanche , September 16, 1991.
  • 9. National of Drawing Augsburg: Small Worlds - The Private in Contemporary Art, exhibition catalog: Stadtsparkasse, Augsburg, 1994, pp. 94–95, text: Gode Krämer.
  • Joyce, James, Dubliner , translation: Harald Beck; Epilogue: Wolfgang Hilbig; Illustrations: Erwin Pfrang, Reclam, Leipzig, 1994
  • Roberta Smith: Review of Dubliner Drawings and Related Works, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York, The New York Times , October 20, 1995.
  • 6 Personali , exhibition catalog: Castelluccio di Pienza-La Foce, Siena, 1997, pp. 26–28, Ed .: Plinio de Martiis, text: Alan Jones.
  • Erwin Pfrang: Works on paper & Odysseus and no end , exhibition catalog (2 volumes): Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, 1998, text: Claudia Denk, Tilman Falk, Michael Semff .
  • Erwin Pfrang: I0 & LUI , exhibition catalog: Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York, 1999.
  • Erwin Pfrang: Pictures , exhibition catalog: State Gallery of Modern Art, Munich, Fred Jahn publishing house, Munich, 1999, text: Peter Eikemeier, Carla Schulz-Hoffmann.
  • Carroll Dunham: Erwin Pfrang . In: Bomb , No. 69, Dec. 1999, pp. 94-97.
  • Lynn Gawell: The Muse Is Within: The Psyche in the Century of Science . In: Dreams 1900-2000 , Cornell University Press, Binghamton University Art Museum, State University of New York, 2000, pp 49-50.
  • Frank Günzel: in Unterwegs , exhibition catalog: Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, 2001.
  • Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes: Illustrations with a Difference . In: Joyce in Art , exhibition catalog: Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 2004, p. 63.
  • Gianni Robustelli: Erwin Pfrang , dissertation (PDF; 888 kB): Università degli Studi di Genova, Genoa, 2004.
  • Erwin Pfrang, "Draft of a Speech" in: Erwin Pfrang. Illustrations for James Joyce Dubliners , Center for Advanced Studies, LMU, Munich 2013, pp. 3–7
  • Tobias Döring, "Erwin Pfrang illustrates Joyce's Dubliners" in: Erwin Pfrang. Illustrations for James Joyce Dubliners , Center for Advanced Studies, LMU, Munich 2013, pp. 9–16
  • Daniel J. Schreiber, ed., Erwin Pfrang: "Thought through my eyes" , Bernried 2019

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carla Schulz-Hoffmann: Erwin Pfrang - The pictures . In: Erwin Pfrang: Pictures , exhibition catalog: State Gallery of Modern Art, Munich, Verlag Fred Jahn, Munich, 1999, p. 7.
  2. ^ Michael Kimmelman: James Joyce's "Ulysses" Translated for the Eye . In: The New York Times , September 13, 1991.
  3. ↑ "It is only through writing that things become reality for me. It is not my prerequisite, but my goal. I must first create it." (Günter Eich: "The writer before reality", speech in Vézelay 1956)
  4. ^ Erwin Pfrang: unpublished typescript. Quote courtesy of the artist.
personal data
SURNAME Pfrang, Erwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich